Darren Ambrose opens up over Tyneside spell

WHEN Sir Bobby Robson paid his old club Ipswich Town £1m for up and coming Darren Ambrose, many thought that the young Londoner was destined to follow young guns like Craig Bellamy, Jermaine Jenas, Titus Bramble and Hugo Viana as mainstays in the Geordie great’s Toon team of the future.

WHEN Sir Bobby Robson paid his old club Ipswich Town £1m for up and coming Darren Ambrose, many thought that the young Londoner was destined to follow young guns like Craig Bellamy, Jermaine Jenas, Titus Bramble and Hugo Viana as mainstays in the Geordie great’s Toon team of the future.

Tomorrow, Ambrose pulls on the shirt of Crystal Palace at the humbling surroundings of Selhurst Park in south London, six years after joining United with dreams of taking on Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan in the Champions League. With qualification to the Champions League already assured by the time Ambrose made his United debut in May 2003 in a 2-2 draw at West Brom, the Harlow-born attacking midfielder must have thought life at St James’s Park could only get bigger and better.

However, after finishing third in the Premier League six years ago, United were dumped out in a qualifier against Partizan Belgrade and despite the dizzy heights of the top four, Robson amazingly found himself under pressure after the bar was raised too high.

In fact many would argue that it was Ambrose that kept Robson in a job with a last-minute equaliser against Southampton during a 3-3 draw keeping hopes alive of the UEFA Cup and ultimately providing a passport to continental football in 2004.

But after making 37 appearances for Sir Bobby, Ambrose – despite scoring two blinding goals at Bolton and Man United – found himself out of favour under Graeme Souness and was moved on to Charlton Athletic just two years after making his dream move to Tyneside.

Now after tasting the bitter pill of relegation with the Addicks after making over 100 appearances at the Valley, Ambrose finds himself at the home of Newcastle’s opponents tomorrow Crystal Palace and, like Toon fans, traumatised by the drop albeit at second-tier level.

He said today: “People will say I’ve got something to prove because I played well at Ipswich and Newcastle.

“But I just want to get back to enjoying my football under a good manager – if I do that it’s going to show in my performances on the pitch.”

With Palace hoping to be in the play-off hunt this season, Ambrose now sees Newcastle as a big rival when it comes to promotion.

He added: “Newcastle are a good team and will be battling for promotion and the play-offs.

“A lot has been made of the off-field matters at Newcastle but I still know a lot of the footballers there and as soon as they cross that white line, they’ll be giving 110 per cent.”

Football is still quivering from the loss of the legendary Robson.

And reflecting on his former manager, he said: “I don’t know anyone who had got a bad thing to say about him – the news really hit me.

“He’s a legend up in Newcastle and for England.

“He helped and nurtured me because I was a young lad with a lot of big names in the dressing room but he made it easier to settle in.

“He loved working with the youngsters.

“His love of the game was so strong.”

And passions on the touchline are certain to be running high at Selhurst tomorrow with the unmistakable figure of Ambrose’s new boss Neil Warnock prowling the technical area.

He said: “I hope at 25 that I’ve got time on my side to still become a top player.

“A lot peak at 27 or 28, so I’ve got a good few years to learn from Mr Warnock about what’s right and wrong.

“Mr Warnock has got a reputation for bringing the best out of players – I want to repay his faith.”